GRAND RAPIDS -- Helping a friend, family member or employee deal with medical issues can be a daunting task for someone without a medical background.

Free training offered by the Alliance for Health aims to help people navigate the medical maze and serve as consumer health advocates.

Ninety-minute classes offered March 13 and 14 are the first in a series of classes in health care advocacy planned by the Alliance in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Being a health care advocate often boils down to knowing the right questions to ask – and feeling empowered to ask them, said Annette Guilfoyle, communications director for the alliance. Preparing for a doctor’s visit with a list of questions is a good place to start.

Patients and their advocates should feel comfortable asking about the alternatives available for treatment, the risk factors associated with medications and the kinds of questions and issues they could face as they go through treatment, Guilfoyle said.

But if a doctor or health care provider discourages questions and makes a patient feel uncomfortable about asking them, patients should consider finding another medical provider, she said.

Advocacy also involves taking responsibility for health care.

“People need to educate themselves about the issues involved in their health care like chronic diseases and family history,” Guilfoyle said. “They need to understand the things they can do to improve their health and for them to be active partners with their provider.”

The goal of the first session is to train people who will also train others. Alliance officials hope each person who attends will share information with at least three other people or groups. So far, those signing up include parish nurses, nursing home social workers and employers.

“If (employers) can provide advocacy training for employees to be healthier, it’s a win-win for everyone,” Guilfoyle said. “They have a healthier employee who comes to work more often and in a better frame of mind to do the job – and hopefully managing their costs and the employee costs better.”

Participants also include people who help family members and friends with medical issues.

“We want people who care about other people and who want to help empower them,” Guilfoyle said. “We want to be a support system for medical providers.”

Future sessions will have more targeted focus, such as health literacy and how to find additional information about care.